Parodies of The Matrix are nothing new. They’ve appeared as jokes in movies like Shrek and tons of online featurettes, but when Mouse Fitzgerald abruptly begins firing 3-D bullets out of his pencil-drawn 2-D gun at a pack of corndog-devouring musical notes…well…few recent things on television have made me laugh harder.
With this week’s “Booger Haze,” 12 oz. Mouse has ten episodes under its belt, and its Matrix bullet-time parody is just one of the many great moments packed into its brief running time.
While cloned Eyes tapdance for Fitz, Skillet and Liquor, Golden Joe and Peanut Cop battle with Roostre’s missing hand. The interplay between Nick Weidenfeld’s constantly-ecstatic Peanut Cop and Vishal Roney’s pissed off Golden Joe continues to be great, as usual. This is distinctly evident in a scene in which the Hand frantically gropes Golden Joe’s giant head while Peanut Cop tries to decide whether or not he should shoot it.
Elsewhere, Spider drags Roostre into a cave. Then, in probably the strangest event to occur on the show (and that’s saying a lot), musical notes from Spider’s piano fly out of the cave and proceed to attack Roostre’s corndogs, with bloody results. There’s no need to re-read that last sentence. I’ll say it again. This episode contains bleeding corndogs being devoured by flying musical notes.
While that’s going on, Shark and Rich Businessman’s car ride starts to turn considerably more volatile. RBM warns that “he” is watching, after which the ominous Clock is transposed over Shark killing pedestrians. Later, RBM finally gives Green-Sweatered Woman what she deserves by splitting her head open. Of course, she’s already survived a tank-blasting and numerous bullet wounds, so I expect she’ll continue to turn up in the future.
Then comes the fantastic Matrix mimicry. While the show has poked fun at dramatic action sequences before, this is its first parody of a specific source. By its end, Fitz and Skillet have wound up in the basement of Roostre’s cabin, where they find a massive storeroom filled with explosives.
Finally, we’re left with Roostre making a connection with Spider. The episode closes with Roostre’s realization: “I know you.” Having nailed its tone with every sequence, another excellent chapter concludes, leaving the show’s fans waiting for the next one.